"The implicit assumption of utilitarianism is that the purpose of life is to maximize net pleasure."
This is a straw man, the explicit mission statement of utilitarianism is to maximize net utility. If you think that utility is synonymous w pure, uncut pleasure then the end goal of universal basic fentanyl might actually sound appealing.
"The implicit assumption of utilitarianism is that the purpose of life is to maximize net pleasure."
This is a straw man, the explicit mission statement of utilitarianism is to maximize net utility. If you think that utility is synonymous w pure, uncut pleasure then the end goal of universal basic fentanyl might actually sound appealing.
But, for most of us, our utility function takes both pleasure & meaning into consideration. What does a reductio ad absurdum look like if we're trying to maximize net utility as defined as 1/4 pleasure & 3/4 meaning? VR D&D pod-life?
That said, I still think utilitarianism is silly. Objective reality is consistent & amenable to rigid systems but morality is subjective and therefore chaotic & unpredictable. It might feel like we're weilding the light of "rationality" or "Science" or whatever but in the end, I suspect any ethical framework more stuctured that "do what feels right" will inevitably have absurd edge cases.
"The implicit assumption of utilitarianism is that the purpose of life is to maximize net pleasure."
This is a straw man, the explicit mission statement of utilitarianism is to maximize net utility. If you think that utility is synonymous w pure, uncut pleasure then the end goal of universal basic fentanyl might actually sound appealing.
But, for most of us, our utility function takes both pleasure & meaning into consideration. What does a reductio ad absurdum look like if we're trying to maximize net utility as defined as 1/4 pleasure & 3/4 meaning? VR D&D pod-life?
That said, I still think utilitarianism is silly. Objective reality is consistent & amenable to rigid systems but morality is subjective and therefore chaotic & unpredictable. It might feel like we're weilding the light of "rationality" or "Science" or whatever but in the end, I suspect any ethical framework more stuctured that "do what feels right" will inevitably have absurd edge cases.